Elseworlds: "Switched"
by The Barracuda
Summary: A shattered mirror, and within the facets lay twisted versions of our heroes, fighting for their very lives against an adversary from the past.


  
  
"In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and  
places - some that have existed, and others that can't, couldn't or shouldn't exist. The  
result is stories that make characters who are as familiar as yesterday seem as fresh as  
tomorrow."  
  
Elseworlds is property of DC comics and is being used without permission.  
  
Elseworlds - "Switched"  
Originally Written: March 1st, 2000  
  
October 25th, 1997  
Manhattan grew dark as the sun disappeared from the platinum aurora of the evening's  
threshold, inviting the darkness to enfold into the barren sky. Shards of stone broke from  
the skin of the Wyvern gargoyles as they awakened to the rebirth of the stars. The others  
below the tallest turret shook the last of the skin from their bodies. They hopped from  
their perches and met each other in a chorus of voices as they discussed their plans for  
the night. From above, two pools of a chocolate hue watched them disperse.  
  
Elisa stood to her full six foot height and felt the wind wrap itself around her, a cool  
breeze, a signal of impending frigid Winter season. Her copper wings rustled slightly and  
she wrapped them around her shoulders, covering a dark leather tunic and loincloth. Her  
tail lashed behind her as she hopped to the stone. Waist length hair of the deepest ebony  
shine, framed a copper visage of an elegance and beauty beyond imagination. Her large,  
pointed ears, with their sensitive hearing, captured an echo upon the stone steps that led  
to her tower, a light gait and a medium stride. It was her sister Bethany and her mate  
Brooklyn, emerging into the cast of the moonlight's supple glow.  
  
"Hey big sis, how'd you sleep?"  
  
"It was peaceful, my sister."  
  
"So you didn't dream of a certain large, human detective?" Bethany cooed coyly as she  
placed her hands on her hips and leaned into a seductive pose, her tail snaking around her  
legs. Brooklyn watched with amusement as his mate berated his leader.  
  
"That is private." Elisa turned away, masking an abashed smirk. "Don't you have  
patrol?"  
  
"Yup. We're going to leave as soon as we get a bite to eat." Bethany came up to Elisa's  
side and placed her chin on her older sister's shoulder, whispering into her ear, "Oh by  
the way, we received a call earlier, informing us that a special someone's shift is ending  
early tonight."  
  
"What?!" Elisa whirled around to meet her sister's eyes. "He's gotten off early?"  
  
"Uh huh. If you leave now, you could just make it." Bethany gingerly played with the  
braids of dark hair falling over her shoulder, as Elisa lept from the turret's edge,  
effectively ending her sister's taunting. "Hey, she didn't even say goodbye."  
  
"Well, ever since they finally declared their feelings for each other, they've been  
spending every available minute they have together." Brooklyn added as he came up  
behind his mate. "She'll be back soon."  
  
"Obviously, you don't know her that well. Or the Big Guy."  
  
****************************************  
  
"Man, what a night." A large figure walked into a darkened apartment and threw his  
keys on the kitchen table, skidding across the wooden surface and coming to a rest just  
before falling over the edge. He pulled a faded red jacket from his massive body and  
hung it on the rack, along with his holster and gun. Electricity coursed through a small  
lamp with a flick of it's switch, and with the power of a low wattage light bulb, the small  
apartment was bathed in it's gentle radiance. His tight black, short sleeved shirt stretched  
over his muscled figure, and his blue jeans, though comfortably baggy, revealed powerful  
legs through the thick material. His large black boots gleamed in the lamplight. He  
enjoyed keeping them clean and polished, for he spent the majority of his nights in less  
than sanitary locations. He undid the ribbon tied around his hair, releasing the sable  
tresses held in their confinement and allowed himself to drop into the warm embrace of  
an old couch, his dark onyx eyes revealing his weariness.  
  
Aching muscles, tensed and knotted, melted into the fabric covering, but as soon as he  
made himself comfortable, he heard a delicate tapping in the direction of the large angled  
windows framing the apartment's south wall. Just beyond the glass, a shadowy figure  
drifted past, a distorted image set against the backdrop of a celestial drapery, yet very  
familiar, and very welcome at any time of the night. He smiled and jumped from the  
couch, his exhaustion fading quickly. He unlocked the window as the shadow crept in  
without a sound. Instantly, his arms were around the slender frame. "It's good to see  
you...my angel of the night."  
  
"And it's very nice to see you, Liath." Elisa curled into his arms and rested against him,  
her gargoyle frame dwarfed by Liath's six foot, nine inch stance. "I heard that you had  
gotten off early tonight, so I thought I would pay a visit to my Big Guy." A born  
protector at the core of her being, having faced atrocities to her race for over ten times a  
hundred years, she has remained strong through every battle, for the sake of her clan.   
She always felt safe in his arms, for eventually, a protector always needs someone to  
protect them as well. She looked deeply into his eyes, and graced him with a sight of  
large red lips forming a warm smile. "I enjoy this very much. Your touch warms me like  
I never thought possible."  
  
"Yours too. I could stay this way my entire life." Liath sighed and lowered his head into  
Elisa's soft black hair, brimming with the scent of the ocean air. Yet like all great  
moments, it came to an abrupt end with a soft knock on the door. Liath turned and  
grumbled, annoyed that they were being interrupted at the worst possible moment.   
"Coming!!" he groused, and reluctantly left Elisa's embrace. The copper gargoyle slid  
back into the shadows, as Liath moved towards the door. But upon peering through the  
eyehole, he smiled. He briskly opened the door and was bowled over by a small form.  
  
"Daddy!!"  
  
"Oof, hey there Angela." Liath grunted as the weight of his six year old daughter pressed  
on the expanse of his chest and stomach. He looked up into an innocent face, as the  
small child laughed and swept away layers of deep chestnut curls. "What are you doing  
here?"  
  
"I wanted to show you my medal." Angela grabbed a large golden medallion from  
around her neck and held it in her tiny hands. "I got first place in skating!"  
  
"Way to go, squirt. I knew you would beat all those others."  
  
"Of course she won," a commanding tone answered from behind, "she's a Destine." The  
door clicked closed and it's walnut exterior instantly paled aside a flaming pyre of  
vermilion hair. A subdued maroon business jacket and dress, a subtle difference to  
radiant green eyes, conveying a powerful presence.  
  
"And a Maza." Liath added as he hefted his daughter in his arms and got to his feet.   
"How are you, Dominique?" Liath greeted his ex-wife.  
  
"Just fine Liath. I hope we're not intruding. It is late but she wanted to show off her first  
place prize." Her words trailed to a whisper as her daughter and onetime husband  
examined the large medallion, bringing memories of what was, and what could have  
been to the surface.  
  
"Hey, I'm a night person remember?"  
  
"Especially in the recent years." The red haired woman grinned as Liath pinked slightly,  
knowing exactly to what she was referring. "Speaking of which, where is Elisa tonight?"  
  
"Right here, my friend." A winged figure emerged from an unknown corner of the  
apartment, into the gaze of the human entourage.  
  
"ELISA!!" Angela practically jumped from her father's arms and into Elisa's awaiting  
hands.  
  
"Hello, small one. I'm very proud of you."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Dominique shuffled close to Liath and leaned towards his large form, as she watched  
their daughter excitedly recount her triumphant win to the copper gargoyle. "Elisa and  
Angela get along quite well."  
  
"If only all humans knew just how gentle she and her kind were..." Liath's wistfulness  
caught Dominique's attention.  
  
"They will in time." she assured him, and turned her gaze to her daughter and friend,  
noticing Angela's large yawn. "It's time to go, Angela. It's getting late and you had a  
big day, and I'm sure your father and Elisa wish some...time alone."  
  
"Aw, mom."  
  
"No arguments, squirt." Liath kneeled down and enveloped his daughter's tiny form into  
his arms, almost obscuring her from sight. "I'll see you next weekend. Looking forward  
to the zoo?"  
  
"Yeah. I want to see the lions and the panthers and the tigers. They look just like uncle  
Talon and the mutates. Bye daddy. Bye Elisa!" Angela placed a kiss on her father's  
cheek and left the apartment with her mother. Liath stood back up and sighed, as the last  
traces of his daughter's warm touch faded from his skin, a youthful exuberance withering  
away from his grasp.  
  
Elisa came forward and rubbed her slender taloned fingers down his face, recognizing a  
familiar pain of parting with a loved one.  
  
"Sometimes I wish I never made the decision to let Angela live with her mother."  
  
"You did the right thing. You knew your job was dangerous, and with your late hours,  
you couldn't provide a stable home for her. Dominique can. As she is the head of her  
company, she has the power to be with her daughter more than you. She can use her  
wealth to give Angela the best that this world can provide."  
  
"I know. I just wish..."  
  
"That you never divorced?"  
  
"NO!! No, of course not. Dom and I made the right decision by getting separated. We  
were very young when we got married and had Angela shortly after. I guess we didn't  
know each other as well as we thought. We're both happier as just...friends, I suppose.   
But a small innocent child is forced to divide herself between two different worlds."  
  
"She has a very happy life. Never forget that."  
  
"Yeah." Liath suddenly grabbed Elisa and fiercely held her within his powerful arms.   
"Speaking of ex-mates, any news on Damon?"  
  
At the mention of her former mate's name, Elisa growled and clenched her fists into the  
ebon material of his shirt, "No, he has effectively disappeared. I am worried. He's been  
dormant for too long. I fear he's planning something."  
  
"If it's not one thing, it's another." Liath chuckled softly and kissed Elisa's forehead.   
  
The pain of the past quickly forgotten, she responded in kind as satiny lips smoothed  
upon Liath's, his tongue gliding over fanged teeth. He grasped her shoulders and pulled  
her close, her breasts pressing against his solid chest. Her wings lifted slowly from her  
shoulders and shivered in the still air as his roaming hands caressed her bronze skin,  
underneath the softened leather garments, relentlessly inflaming her craving for his  
touch. Delicately, he traveled the length of her neck with his lips, revealing a bare  
glistening copper as he slipped the tunic from about her shoulders. His strength was  
overwhelming, and she barely broke free from his hold, only to place her gentle lips  
inches away from his own, her heated breath a signal of an arousal that could not be  
contained any longer. "Be with me tonight..."  
  
"I shall savor you until the sun rises, my angel of the night."  
  
"Mmmmm, good." She grabbed him by the hand and led him into the darkened velvet of  
his bedroom, slowly stripping the tenth century garb from her body. The only light, a soft  
crimson burning in her eyes.  
  
"Jalapena..."  
  
****************************************  
  
It was nearing dawn, and the drifts of cotton ivory hid from view a single occupant, in the  
ever brightening sky. Elisa soared with the flow of Manhattan's twisting winds,  
approaching the castle in a sharp curve. Since before leaving Liath's apartment complex,  
she could not suppress a glowing smile on her usually stout face, a clear giveaway to her  
family of her recent activities. She landed on the battlements and watched as several  
others of the clan ran to meet her.  
  
"Where have you been?!" Bethany shouted into the crisp morning air as she screeched to  
a halt at her sister's feet. "We've been trying to reach you!"  
  
"I was at Liath's apartment."  
  
"I called there, but the line was busy."  
  
"We took the phone off the hook as we didn't want to be...disturbed." Elisa blushed  
slightly.  
  
"Well, while you were out having a great time, we got some disturbing news." Brooklyn  
came forward. "Someone stole ten surface-to-air Maverick missiles from a U.S. Navy  
submarine, the U.S.S.. Thomas Paine to be exact. These suckers have enough explosive  
power to incinerate an area more than a hundred square miles."  
  
"Who?..." An irrelevant question, barely worth the breath it took, for Elisa already knew  
the answer.  
  
"Damon." Xanatos added as he came into Elisa's field of view.  
  
"How was he able to break into a nuclear submarine?"  
  
"I was able to secure some surveillance footage and discovered a disturbing scene.   
Apparently he used magic to disguise himself and to knock the entire crew out. After  
that, it was a simple task of unloading the missiles and using one of their own cargo  
helicopters to haul them away."  
  
Elisa's expression hardened and her eyes flashed a bloody crimson, her entire body  
tensing into a tormented posture. "That despicable, psychotic..."  
  
"Well lass, we canna be doin' anythin' about it as th' sun is about t' rise." Hudson broke  
through as the others turned to see the first rays of sunlight peering through the haze of  
the skyline.  
  
"Damn." Elisa whirled around to catch a glimpse of Xanatos' silhouetted outline,  
basking in the creation of the dawn's new light. "Please do what you can to find him,  
Xanatos. With those weapons, he could cause the deaths of millions of innocent people."  
  
"I'll do what I can," Xanatos answered quietly, though his words were lost to granite  
ears, "for all our sakes."  
  
****************************************  
  
Liath had finished his shift the following night only to drop by the castle and find his  
gargoyle love within the throes of a painful plan of action, where their failure could mean  
the death of the entire city's population. Considerable resources at Xanatos' wealthy  
fingertips had tracked the helicopter to an abandoned airstrip on the outskirts of the  
island's watery fringe. The gargoyles were preparing to leave for the oceanside relatively  
soon, knowing the military police would soon discover the location of the stolen missiles,  
and all of them, even their leader, were fearful of the impending results. Damon had  
proved himself a formidable foe, time and time again.  
  
After helping to betray the clan a thousand years ago, he had lived through the centuries,  
due to a magic spell that linked him to the Scottish king, Macbeth. Upon the clan's  
awakening, Damon had betrayed them once again, by allying himself with Xanatos. For  
three years, he was a plague upon them, a thousand years of pain and anger and hatred  
and death, creating not the second-in-command they remembered from the days of  
Wyvern's past, but a literal demon in every sense of the word. Baneful, corrupt,  
unfeeling, willing to go to any length to ensure the death of those he blamed for the  
devastation of his clan.  
  
They had lost sight of him after the Hunter's moon, after he had flown screaming from  
sight with Jon Canmore chasing after him. Now, a year of perpetual peace had passed,  
and he had emerged to threaten their very existence once more.  
  
"He must be stopped here, and now." Elisa paced back and forth on the library floor.  
  
"Yeah, but how? If we do manage to get the missiles, what do we do with him  
afterwards?" Liath asked as he watched his love slowly tread before his eyes. "That spell  
has kept him alive for over a thousand years, and he heals fast. We can't even kill him.   
What do we do, lock him up for the rest of eternity?"  
  
"I don't know!!" Elisa yelled back. At the sight of Liath's expression, she sighed and  
knelt before him, resting herself on his leg. "I am sorry. I didn't mean to raise my voice,  
it's just that..." She choked back, trying for her life to keep her tears at bay.  
  
Liath felt her tremble, knowing her grief was tearing at her very soul. "I know. This  
must be hard for you. You used to love him."  
  
"And now he's trying to destroy the very people I care for." Elisa crawled into the large  
human's lap, and cradled her winged form against his chest. "Maybe I can talk with him,  
convince him to..."  
  
"You know that won't work. You've tried it before, remember? When he tried to kill  
you and Hudson that night? When he resurrected your rookery brother and turned him  
into that cyborg? Or when he turned the entire city to stone? Or when he found himself  
in Paris and hooked up with your clone, Asilea?" Liath listed some of the worst nights the  
clan had experienced since awakening in the twentieth century, effectively causing  
Elisa's anger to return in full. "And when they created more clones of the clan, including  
Samson?" Upon the mention of his own clone's name, he drew into an uncomfortable  
position. "God, that guy still weirds me out. It's strange having someone out there  
wearing your face."  
  
"Samson can't help who he is and how he was created," Elisa perked up, "yet he has  
overcome incredible odds to become a valued member of the Labyrinth. Your brother  
has done a most remarkable job."  
  
"Yeah, way to go, little brother Derek." Liath chuffed. "So, do I even have to mention  
when Damon tried to destroy humanity with a virus, the night of the Hunter's moon, or  
are you convinced yet?"  
  
"The hunter's moon," Elisa whispered, "I remember that night. The time when we first  
kissed, and the night after we confessed our love for each other." Elisa looked up into  
Liath's dark eyes. "And while we are on the subject of 'former loves', how is Jenara  
faring?"  
  
"Are you ever going to get over that one, lone, insignificant kiss? Anyway, she's doing  
fine. I think she's getting used to that wheelchair, and is dealing with the fact that her  
brother is the leader of the Quarrymen. She's even gotten a new job. Jenara Canmore,  
research assistant at Nightstone Enterprises."  
  
"I'm glad she was able to cast off the shackles of hate before they almost consumed her.   
She has become a good friend to the clan."  
  
"And she's still a great kisser." Liath joked, until a flash of chocolate turned crimson  
abruptly shut him up, for fear of his own safety. "Just kidding." He laughed slightly and  
raised his hands in submission, bringing a small smile to his gargoyle love's slender face.   
She leaned in closer, only to stop and lovingly gaze into a charcoal darkness, twin orbs  
reflecting the light of the fire beside them. A stare that held her in place, unable to move,  
unable to release herself from it's beguiling snare.  
  
An eerie, forbidding moan, as if a cry of death emanating within the castle's very  
foundation, signaled the great doors of the library opening to the main hallway, allowing  
the shattered beams of crystal chandeliers to infringe upon the couple's privacy. The  
clan entered slowly and Elisa came face to face with Brooklyn's somber facade.  
  
"It's time."  
  
Elisa solemnly nodded and rose from the couch, with Liath behind her. She turned to  
face him. "This is our fight." said Elisa as she placed her hands on his chest. "You do  
not have to go."  
  
"Where you go, I go. You and I are one, remember?"  
  
"Now and forever."  
  
Two copper arms slid about Liath's neck and a kiss swept his lips ever so gently. Broken  
from their passion, Elisa tucked herself underneath Liath's arm and they headed outside,  
to the battlements beneath a blanket of stars. Liath climbed onto Elisa's back and held  
on tightly as his carrier launched herself from the stone barrier, into the haze of an indigo  
euphony, a mere song played by the orchestra of distant suns.  
  
****************************************  
  
"Why are we turning here, mom?" Angela asked as she noticed her mother directing the  
car on to a street she didn't recognize.  
  
"I just need to check on a building I recently purchased, angel. I want to examine some  
new aircraft engines my company has developed." Dominique explained as she looked to  
her small daughter sitting in the passenger seat. "It will only take a moment."  
  
"Can I see too?" Angela happily exclaimed, knowing this side trip would delay her  
bedtime.  
  
"I suppose. But don't touch anything."  
  
"Yes, mommy." Angela huffed as the car headed towards the open area of older  
Manhattan, towards the water's edge.  
  
****************************************  
  
The clan's garrulous cheer, often heard when together, washed away with the cold winds,  
the chatter kept to a bare minimum. Miles of smooth cement runways slowly appeared  
before them as an increasing alarm spread throughout the group. A situation more  
dangerous than anyone could realize, perhaps not all of them would come home alive.  
  
Liath was holding tight to Elisa as he watched the streets below him. She felt his weight  
shift on her back and turned her head slightly. "Are you all right, beloved?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just admiring the view. The city can look beautiful from this height,  
like there's nothing wrong in the world."  
  
"Yes, I feel that way myself." She again felt him reposition himself, having to struggle  
slightly with over two hundred and seventy pounds of muscle clinging to her back. "Are  
you sure you are fine?"  
  
"I'm always fine when I fly with you. Of course, the first time, I fell off the castle."  
  
"Yes. I will never forget that night. I cannot believe you fell over the edge."  
  
"A gorgeous gargoyle female had just crushed my gun with her bare hands and demanded  
to know what I was doing in her castle. And Bronx wasn't a calming sight either." Liath  
heard Elisa laugh and he tightened his grip around her shoulders. She smiled and flew  
on, across the vast fields of pavement and brilliant yellow paint, cracks rippling the once  
pristine surface, and selected the tallest of the hangars to land. "We shall search this  
building first, there are signs of recent use. Be careful, he might all ready know that we  
are here." Elisa directed the others and they split into three groups. Hudson, Lexington  
and Broadway going to the left, Brooklyn, Bethany and Bronx coming in from the right  
and Liath and Elisa, straight through the shackled front doors.  
  
With a swift punch, Elisa knocked the large entrance doors open, and the two guardians  
crept into the darkened building. Liath drew his gun as he trailed Elisa, the gargess  
following the line of the steel walls, moving slowly to the light panel with her human  
lover on her heels. Four large toggles required only a simple snap of a copper colored  
wrist to feed the massive hanging lights with power. One by one, the floodlights came to  
life, and revealed the massive hangar interior.  
  
Elisa's breath sank into her chest, a trembled gasp her only response to a perception she  
could not trust, for it could not seem possible. The result of man's wrath in a translation  
of technology, lay before them. The stolen missiles had been found, lined up across from  
them, all primed on makeshift launchpads.  
  
Liath slowly emerged from behind Elisa's quivering wings and ran his hand over the  
smooth metal casing. "Oh my god."  
  
"Even your god will not protect you, human." An abraded utterance echoed through the  
room. "By the time these detonate, half the population of this country will be nothing but  
ash." Elisa and Liath whirled around. From the furthest missile, the shadows swirled  
with a twitch of the eye, only to release a tall winged creature from an absolute emptiness  
where the light couldn't reach. Dark red hair fell behind and a chalky tattered loincloth  
suspended from a thick black belt. He was leanly muscled, but still put forth a menacing  
stance. "Hello, Elisa."  
  
"Damon..." Elisa growled. "You maniac, how could you possibly use these on innocent  
people?"  
  
"No humans are innocent. They are inferior creatures who don't deserve the chance to  
live. They betrayed our clan and destroyed our brothers and sisters."  
  
"How dare you!!" Elisa yelled at the gargoyle before her. "You betrayed our clan. You  
were responsible for their deaths. You had the power to stop it but you never did a damn  
thing!"  
  
"I made a deal to get our home back, and the humans betrayed my trust. For a thousand  
years I was hunted, just because I am different from them."  
  
"That doesn't give you the right to be humanity's judge, jury and executioner." said Liath  
as he edged closer. "Not all humans want the blood of innocent gargoyles on their  
hands."  
  
"Ah yes. I almost forgot. You and my former mate are in love. That...sickens me. She  
is the ultimate betrayer. She dared to love one of your kind, a human." Damon watched  
Liath's eyes burn with disgust, and his gaze darted to Elisa, flaring her wings and  
creeping to Liath's side. "But I have ten good reasons to be happy tonight. These  
missiles are set to fire at predetermined destinations all around this country. In less than  
an hour, ten major cities will be nothing but ruins, and their inhabitants will be just a  
memory."  
  
"I think not!!" Elisa jumped at the gargoyle and knocked him back, crossing his jaw with  
a copper fist. The sheer speed of her blow was enough to catch even Damon off guard,  
stumbling back into the nearest missile's mirrored surface and pausing to regain his  
balance. He was stronger, she was faster, a balance which made them almost equal. He  
caught her hands as she rushed forward but was tripped by her tail. He fell backwards  
with Elisa on top. She swiped with a blind fury at his face and chest, but his powerful  
legs threw her off. The cement flooring rose to greet her limp body, impacting with a  
thud, and rolling with the strike some several yards away. Damon stood up only to hear a  
gun being cocked and felt the cold steel of the barrel pressed against his neck.  
  
"Hold it, pal," Liath hissed, "or I'll paint the walls with your brains."  
  
"I can't die, mortal."  
  
"But I'm sure having your head blown off will put a crimp in your plans."  
  
"Too true." With lightning speed, Damon turned and dug his claws into Liath's wrist just  
as the bullet ripped from the chamber, missing Damon's left cheek by a fraction of an  
inch. The blue gargoyle's fist connected with Liath's face and the human was knocked  
back, falling unconscious as he hit the floor. Damon slipped the gun into his belt and  
turned his attention to Elisa, who was slowly getting up from the floor. "And now for my  
former mate. Time to die."  
  
"I don't think so, pal!" A pair of copper feet slammed into his back and the gargoyle was  
sent sprawling. Through the crimson strands draped over his face, he looked up to see  
Bethany landing with the others behind her. "Where's your little clone girlfriend to save  
you now? Oh yeah I forgot. She dumped your ass!" Bethany egged the immortal on.  
  
"Ah, the sister I never liked. You were just as annoying a thousand years ago."  
  
"I confess, I never liked you much either. But Elisa corrected her mistake, she found a  
REAL man." Bethany smiled a toothy grin as she watched Damon's eyes erupt in a frosted  
glow. With a misstep, she alerted him to a subtle offensive movement and before the  
clan could react, Damon slithered to the nearest missile, and an equalizer hidden behind.  
  
"I thought I wouldn't need this, but..." He pointed a massive silver rifle towards the clan  
and a thin red laser beam seared the air around them. They scattered as the beam ripped  
through their ranks. With an almost demoniac frenzy, Damon continued firing at the clan  
as they dodged the beams, coming closer to the missiles with every wild shot.  
  
"Are ye daft, ladd?!" Hudson cried out as he landed near the immortal. "If ye hit th'  
missiles, th' entire city could be destroyed, an' us along with it!!"  
  
"That's the point, old soldier. That's the point." Damon aimed the laser directly at the  
elder gargoyle's chest. But before he could fire, a flash of burnished hide bolted past, as  
Elisa ripped the laser away and lay upon him, a vicious spinkick to the side of the head.   
Damon's neck wrenched to the side, cracking with the collision of bone against bone. He  
plunged downwards, and was soon surrounded by the entire clan.  
  
Damon surveyed his situation, dire circumstances for the unprepared. But fate's sardonic  
grasp held to the immortal, promising a way out. From the corner of his eye, he noticed  
movement near the door. He looked back at Elisa and grinned, a smile of death. A string  
of unrecognizable words flowed through clenched teeth, an ancient spell whispered into  
the air, but an effective and simple escape route as a white orb exploded from his open  
palms in a blinding white light. The Wyvern gargoyles were momentarily sightless, and  
Damon made his escape to the door. Elisa rubbed her eyes and cautiously pursued.   
Damon reached the doorway and grabbed the form who caught his eye moments before.   
He whirled around and Elisa stopped in her tracks. In his arms was Dominique Destine.  
  
"Well, isn't this lucky. A hostage." Damon held his taloned hand to her throat as  
Dominique looked with fear to Elisa, who stood silently, weighing her options. "It seems  
that the owner of this particular building has come to do some late night paperwork. I  
thought I could work undisturbed without you checking up on your investments, Miss  
Destine. Very bad timing, I must say."  
  
"Dom?" Liath had awakened and walked shakily over to Elisa. "Damon, let her go. She  
has nothing to do with this!"  
  
"She is a very good bargaining chip, human," Damon tightened his grip, "I think I shall  
hold on to her for a while."  
  
"Hey Damon," Bethany called out, "smile for the birdie!" Damon's gaze followed the  
source of the familiar sarcastic banter directed his way, only to be hit head first with a  
large steel beam, thrown by Broadway and Brooklyn. Almost a ton of pure iron careened  
with the immortal, and a split second later he was lifted from the ground into the wall  
beyond, releasing his grip on Dominique.  
  
She fell clear into Elisa's grasp, and the gargess watched as Damon's twisted, limp body  
sagged beneath the steel girder. "That was very foolish." she chided her sister, and the  
clan.  
  
"But it worked." Bethany smiled as the others came around her.  
  
Elisa sighed and looked to Lexington. "Lexington, please do what do can to disarm  
those...things." The small gargoyle nodded and quickly ran to the missiles, and what  
looked to be a control panel. "Thank god we stopped him before he had the chance to  
launch them. It's over."  
  
"...no...it's not..." Damon was still conscious, blood gushing from a massive head  
wound, straining against the weight of the beam. "Not while I have this..." He pulled  
Liath's gun from his belt and aimed it at Elisa. "Goodbye, my love..." He grinned and  
squeezed the trigger.  
  
"ELISA!!" A small voice rang from the doorway and in an instant, Angela jumped on the  
immortal's arm. She forced the gun away from her gargoyle friend, but unfortunately,  
towards her. The gun went off and then nothing, but a sickening silence followed. Even  
Damon was rendered speechless.  
  
"ANGELAAAAA!!!" Liath ran forward and grabbed his daughter. A large red stain  
appeared on her shirt and grew larger as the very life from her veins escaped through the  
gaping hole in her chest. "...no..." He laid her on the floor and hovered over her.   
Dominique came running to her side. The small girl gasped for breath as she directed her  
large onyx eyes towards her parents, trying desperately to speak through the choking fluid  
flowing from her mouth.  
  
"...daddy...mommy..."  
  
"Shhh, it's okay. It's going to be all right." Dominique gathered the child into her arms  
and held her tight. But it was too late. The bullet had punctured her heart, shredding  
through the left ventricle. The two parents were forced to watch as their daughter died in  
their arms. "My beautiful baby...NNNOOOOOOO!!!" Dominique screamed in sorrow as  
Liath held her close.  
  
Elisa's eyes grew red and she slowly turned to look at Damon.  
  
He was on his feet and staring at the humans, his injuries already healing. "I...I..." For a  
moment, it almost looked like he was regretful about what had happened. But only for a  
moment. "She's the first to die. The first human to be eliminated from this planet. And  
many more will follow."  
  
"You bastard!!!" Dominique screamed at the immortal. "She was just a little girl!!! She  
never did anything to you!!!" She turned her gaze to Elisa. "Because of you and your  
damned feud, my daughter is dead!!" Liath tried to calm his ex-wife, but she was beyond  
help. She sunk into his arms and held Angela's dead body, limp and cold, her own hands  
covered with the drying remains of her daughter's blood. "Oh god, I should have never  
brought her here...I'm so sorry..."  
  
Elisa's eyes teared and she bellowed at the top of her lungs, an anguished cry tearing  
through the hangar's walls and into the night. She ran screaming at Damon and tackled  
him into the wall. With nothing but a blind rage, she repeatedly struck him across the  
face, her own hands becoming bruised and bloody. "How many must die because of  
you?! Because of your inability to trust humankind!! Because of your dark heart!!"  
  
"Many more..." Damon gasped and pulled a control pad from his loincloth. He pressed  
the largest button and the last missile sprung to life. Flames erupted from the rocket as  
the launching mechanism raised it towards the roof. A deafening sound fractured the  
atmosphere as the missile lifted from the ground and crashed through the skylight. Elisa  
was distracted, and Damon used her hesitation to knock her back. In his dash to  
freedom, he dropped the control pad, climbed the wall and flew out through the shattered  
skylight.  
  
"I had to disable the missiles one at a time," Lexington called to Elisa over the dying roar  
of the rocket, "but I never got the chance to disarm that one!! And according to the  
computer readout, it's target is Manhattan!!"  
  
"Can it be stopped?"  
  
"Maybe. The warhead can't be disarmed, but if you use that control pad, you can  
redirect the missile's path. The only thing is...you have to be almost on top of the missile  
for it to work. I'll go..."  
  
But it was too late, Elisa scooped the pad from the floor and ran to Liath. "I am truly  
sorry for your daughter's death, Liath. I cared for her like my own child. Always  
remember...I love you." She grabbed his head and kissed him. A kiss of fear. A kiss of  
passion. A kiss that was intended to be their last. She ran to the wall and followed  
Damon's path.  
  
"Elisa!! Wait, please!!" Liath called after her, but it was too late.  
  
**************************************  
  
Damon flew on, climbing higher and higher above the island, watching the missile coast  
the ethered skyway in a grand curve, and suddenly redirecting towards the city's most  
populated section. He was too engrossed in his sickening fascination to notice Elisa  
come behind him. She slammed head on into his back and forced him from the air. She  
held tight around his waist and coerced him towards the incoming missile. "What are  
you doing?!"  
  
"I'm making sure you never hurt anyone again!!" Elisa yelled back as Damon struggled  
to release himself, but Elisa held firm, pushing herself towards the missile, through the  
tempest of the powerful boosters, spewing a mixture of propellant fumes and a trail of  
flames. The two gargoyles collided on the steel casing and Elisa dug her claws into the  
metal.  
  
"You intend to blow me up?! How...unexpected. I'm impressed. But how do you know  
I won't survive, due to the weird sister's spell?"  
  
"Because your atoms will be spread across the sea...along with mine." She pulled the  
pad from her loincloth and touched it to the missile. She followed Lexington's  
instructions and punched in the new target. The missile corrected itself and with a small  
shock, turned towards the ocean. Elisa flipped Damon over to peer into unfeeling eyes,  
and for the first time, in a long time, she saw fear. He also knew he wouldn't survive the  
explosion. As the missile flew beyond the reach of the city, Elisa held the pad with her  
free hand. She gave one last look to the city she had protected for so long and punched  
the detonation button. "I love you, Liath..."  
  
**************************************  
  
Liath Maza watched from the hangar roof as the night sky lit up. The missile exploded  
over the water and the sky erupted in an orange blaze, brighter than that of the sun.   
"ELISAAAAAAA!!!" he screamed to the stars, and sank to his knees. The others  
watched in horror as their leader, and friend, and sister, was killed before their very eyes.  
  
Liath died himself that very moment. His lover had perished in the furied dementia of a  
madman. But she died protecting the city from an evil that surely would have done  
everything in his power to destroy the human race. No one would ever realize just how  
close they came to death this night, except for a select few, huddled around a large  
sobbing form, wailing to a lost spirit as small chunks of flaming debris landed in the  
crystal waters.  
  
**************************************  
  
Castle Wyvern was silent, it's voice surrendered to the mourning of a grieving family. It  
had been two weeks since that night in the hangar. Liath stood atop the highest turret,  
leaning on Elisa's perch, the very spot she had watched over her castle for centuries. But  
now she was gone.  
  
He glided his hand over the smooth polished stone, almost sensing the warmth of her  
body left behind. She had stolen the large human's heart. Ever since he met her three  
years ago, her captivating beauty and wondrous spirit made him feel like nothing before.  
  
But now she was gone.  
  
He thought back to the night they first kissed, high above the city. How her soft lips  
touched his own, and caressed the very depths of his being.  
  
But now she was gone. And would never return.  
  
He hunched over onto the stone cornice, feeling the need to retch, his stomach twisted  
with pain and loss, yet nothing came but an arduous breath. He somehow managed to  
pull himself upright, and swallowed the intense need to cry deep within him, though a  
few lone tears escaped, creating their own path down his cheek. Through the thick  
leather of his bomber jacket, he sensed a slender hand trailing the length of his left  
shoulder, and grazing his chin to wipe the droplets from his skin.  
  
"I've been looking for you." Dominique skimmed her long nails about the curvature of a  
rugged countenance, clearing Liath's skin of his tears. "I came by your apartment earlier  
but you weren't there."  
  
"I've...been spending a lot of time here." Liath answered quietly, and met the lights of the  
city with a tired gaze. "Why have you come?"  
  
"To apologize."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"I didn't mean what I said that night...about Elisa. She didn't cause Angela's death. I'm  
sorry."  
  
"So am I." Liath grabbed Dominique's shoulders and pulled her into his embrace. She  
was startled, but soon found herself hugging back. Her tears flowed, so much so, they  
stained Liath's shirt. "I miss her so much. Both of them."  
  
"As do I. The house seems so empty without her there. And the castle seems like it has  
lost a part of itself."  
  
"The clan will survive. Brooklyn has been made leader. But...I feel like...nothing  
matters anymore. I don't know how to go on..."  
  
"We will find a way, I know we will. We have to." Dominique looked into Liath's  
charcoal eyes. "Angela, and Elisa will live on through us, and their friends, and their  
family, and the memories we shared."  
  
"I love you, Dom. I never stopped loving you."  
  
"And I still care for you very, very much. Like you said, we will endure." The couple  
held each other until being interrupted by a soft clearing of the throat. They turned to see  
Brooklyn and Bethany standing behind them.  
  
"I'm sorry if we're bothering you..." Bethany whispered.  
  
"Of course not, Beth."  
  
The copper gargoyle crept closer and placed her hand on Liath's shoulder. So much like  
a love lost to him, only weeks ago. "How are you feeling?"  
  
"Tired. I'm just...tired. But perhaps, in time, I might be okay."  
  
"Good, because I...we have some good news."  
  
"I could use some." Liath answered wearily.  
  
"We heard you discuss the clan's future, and you're right, because someone we loved  
very much gave her life for her clan and ensured the survival of this generation," Beth  
looked down and rubbed her stomach, "and the next."   
  
Liath and Dominique took the cue. "You're pregnant?"  
  
"Yeah, Brooklyn and I are going to have a baby."  
  
"That's terrific. I'm so happy for you, Beth." Liath wrapped his powerful arms around  
his friend as Dominique congratulated Brooklyn. "A baby. A small beautiful baby."  
  
"And thanks to your angel of the night," Beth turned to Dominique, "and your daughter,  
one of the greatest threats to our existence is gone. They sacrificed themselves to make a  
better world for humans and gargoyles alike. We can't forget that, Liath."  
  
"Never. I will never forget Elisa or Angela. They will live in my heart...for the rest of  
my days."  
  
An enduring love forged from the fires of the Wyvern massacre, and the continuance of  
endless battle once awakened in an alien world, Elisa proved herself a worthy leader to  
her clan. Though ripped from their lives by the hands of fate, her family will live on.   
She was a protector, a guardian, and her sacrifice will never be forgotten.  
  
(Ha ha, I hoped you enjoyed this little diversion from the main series. But don't worry, story 9 is on it's way!!!) 


End file.
